Curtis Corlew blogs on bike commuting, buying a new bike, maintaining his bicycle and all other bike and bicycle related stuff

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Giro d' Vino 2010

It was a dark and rainy day, then the wind kicked up.

Holy smokes, what a wet day. Saturday was grand, Monday was perfect, but the day of the Giro d' Vino was a mess. We must have changed our minds five times about driving an hour to greater Lodi to ride in the rain. In the end we thought "If it's really bad, we'll just go taste wine."

When we got there we weren't smart enough to stick with our plan. We put on our rain gear (such as it is) and jumped on our fenderless road bikes.

We had signed up for the 100K ride, but decided to just do the 50K version(about 30 miles) Somehow we ended up with 42 miles, which in the rain is a significant difference.It was flat, but the wind kicked up and we found ourselves working to stay at 12 or 13 mph.

There were winery stops, which were fun. But we found we just cooled off and then got cold. We skipped the last few just to keep moving and try to stay warm.

Two days later and my ski-type gloves haven't dried out yet. My shoes haven't either. The rain jacket and pants worked well, but my booties seemed to be sponges. I still haven't figured out how to keep my hands and feet dry. If you have a hint, let me know.